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The number of slaves in the country was not known exactly, but is was estimated to be up to 600,000 men, women and children, or 20% of the population [3][4] of 3,069,000 people. Even though slavery is illegal, sociologist Kevin Bales believes that Mauritania is the country with the largest proportion of its population in slavery.[5]

Boubacar Messaoud remembered strolling from the flatlands of Mauritania toward the southern town of Rosso, a watermelon poised on his head. Beyond a riverbank, he could see a row of children in a yard. Messaoud, then 7, stopped to find out what was going on, with the pure curiosity of a child.

The Mauritanian anti-slavery campaigner Biram Dah Abeid, head of the initiative for the resurgence of the abolitionist movement in Mauritania, has been in custody since 13 December, charged with assaulting two police officers. Human rights organisations have condemned his arbitrary detention and the harassment Abeid has suffered in his struggle against slavery.

Slavery has been illegal in Mauritania since 2007, but the laws against it are rarely enforced. So a group of activists is demanding that the Mauritanian government actually enforce the ban on slavery and hold human traffickers accountable. But six of these activists have now been imprisoned for asking the police to investigate allegations of child trafficking.

Crossposted at Future Challenges Organization] Slavery is forced labor or exploitation with little to no pay (beyond subsistence) as a result of force, fraud or manipulation. Human trafficking (often called modern-day slavery) usually involves the added elements of recruitment, transportation and receipt of trafficking victims with the intent of exploitation.

Mauritania is a north African country in which 20% of the population, 500,000 people, are living in forced servitude. Deprived of even simple rights like having a last name, or retaining control over their children, the slave class is largely made up of black Africans who have been displaced due to a history of tragic events.

By Jemal Oumar and Mohamed Yahia Ould Abdel Wedoud in Nouakchott for Magharebia – 15/04/11 It is a common practice in Mauritania; wealthy families in the cities hiring young girls as household servants. But after activists recently persuaded the government to prosecute employers for violating anti-slavery laws, many maids under the age of 18 were left with no job.

Tackling the racism and slavery inherent in Mauritania will rely on overthrowing ‘the ideological and religious foundations of slavery and racism with the state.’ The conference held on Saturday 25 June 2011 and organised by Biram Dah Abeid gave rise to a particular interest and enthusiasm on the part of some of the main political actors and their associates within the Mauritanian diaspora in France.

Nouakchott, Mauritania (NTN24 wires) – A Mauritanian court on Tuesday charged nine anti-slavery activists with “rebellion”, after they organised a sit-in protest against child enslavement, a judicial source said. The nine members of an anti-slavery NGO were charged with “unauthorised gathering and rebellion,” said the source on condition of anonymity, while one of them also faced charges of aggression towards a police officer.

By Mohamed Yahya Ould Abdel Wedoud and Jemal Oumar for Magharebia in Nouakchott – 14/08/11 Mauritania criminalised slavery in 2007, but the effects of the practice continue to linger. Many former slaves are often left with little to no property and no source of income.